Listen to Alan Chapman's preview on SoundCloud.
The Saturday night performance will broadcast on Classical KUSC on February 25, 2018.
Guest conductor Michael Francis conducted with violinist Ray Chen.
Ludwig van Beethoven: Concerto in D Major for Violin and Orchestra, Op. 61
Edward Elgar: Symphony No. 1 in A-flat Major, Op. 55
I loved the Beethoven concerto. It is always refreshing to hear a non-Kreisler cadenza played. :)
In addition to the 1st and 3rd movement cadenzas, Ray Chen inserted a transition piece between the 2nd and 3rd. For an encore, he treated us with Paganini's Caprice No. 21. The replay on KUSC is definitely something I will be looking forward to! :)
There was lots of fun in the pre-concert lecture as well! Alan Chapman interviewed the star guests, and here are some fun facts I found out.
Michael brought the rain to California last week! He told the orchestra, if you do an English piece with an English conductor, you're getting English weather. :)
He also reminded us that Elgar's Pomp and Circumstance was not composed for US graduation ceremonies.
Ray, at 28 years old, has more concerts with first-time conductors. He's starting round 2's and 3's with orchestras, though.
He talked about his pre-concert ritual, a count-down before entering the stage. Being a young performer, Ray still gets nervous, and this helps him get a psychological advantage.
He was coming down with a cold or something, but his performance was awesome! :)
You can sample Ray Chen's violin on Amazon!
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